[Info-vax] Learning VMS application programming

[Paul Sture]

On 2014-09-07, Simon Clubley <clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP> wrote:
> On 2014-09-07, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> wrote:
>>
>> But then this smells rather like the classic "technically feasible" 
>> versus "prudent investment of time and effort and budget" discussion 
>> trap, too.   Sure, inner-mode Fortran is technically feasible.  But who 
>> would use it, how much would they pay for this, and why don't we 
>> implement kernel-mode COBOL while we're at it?   Does VSI have other 
>> work that'll be higher on the schedule?
>>
>>
>
> $ set response/mode=good_natured
>
> "kernel-mode COBOL" ??
>
> Oh come on Hoff, you are not expanding your horizons far enough. :-)
>
> What we _really_ need is a COBOL cross compiler targetting bare metal
> platforms so we can write all our industrial bare metal real time
> applications in COBOL.

Believe it or not in the early 90s I read an article about a COBOL
compiler written in COBOL, for PCs IIRC.  They saw it as a means of
concentrating on that skill and making sure it worked under duress.
I have no idea now what it was called or whether it was successful.

> Phillip: the serious point here is that while you can make many
> languages do whatever you want with either enough effort or a unique
> implementation of a compiler for that language (this latter option
> would be required here), each language has it's own range of target
> applications.
>
> Even back when I was using FORTRAN for system monitoring applications
> in my school days, I knew enough even then to realise I would _never_
> have dreamed of writing kernel mode code using it.

Of course you can write FORTRAN in any language.  I have to add this
snippet I came across recently:

"HIRING PRO TIP: Hippies are not the same as hipsters.  I have made this
mistake and we now have a frontend MVC framework written in FORTRAN."

(and yes, I had to look up what "hipster" means to understand the joke
"hipster: a person who follows the latest trends and fashions".)

-- 
Nothing says poor craftsmanship more than wrinkled duct tape.